“By leveraging cleaner energy sources and cutting energy waste, this plan will clean the air we breathe while helping slow climate change so we can leave a safe and healthy future for our kids,” EPA administrator Gina McCarthy said in a press release.

The announcement brought celebration from environmentalists and condemnation from traditional energy advocates.

President Barack Obama "has been intent on closing coal-fired power plants for at least six years now. But today, they finally pulled the trigger on the nuclear option,” Moffat County Commissioner John Kinkaid said. “This will have a chain reaction throughout the whole country. This will have negative consequences on the whole county.”

Kinkaid worked at Craig Station, a coal-fired power plant owned by Tri-State, for more than 30 years.

Lee Boughey, senior manager of corporate communications and public affairs for Tri-State, said the company intends to keep up with the technology and still provide affordable power. Tri-State is in the process of reviewing the proposed regulations.

“The EPA’s proposed carbon standards are complex and will require thorough evaluation before we will know how they will affect our association in the states we operate,” he said in an email. “We will work to ensure that any carbon standards allow us to continue to deliver affordable and reliable power to our members and the rural communities they serve.”

Craig Station already has taken technological steps toward less carbon emissions, he said.

“We continue to look at technology options. This includes: efficiency improvements at our power plants and investing in carbon management technology research, development and demonstration projects that could offer solutions,” Boughey said in the email. “The geologic sequestration assessment project, completed near Craig Station, is an example of our work to develop potential approaches to manage emissions.”

“Instead of working toward a responsible all-of-the-above strategy needed for a secure and stable energy future, the president is picking winners and losers and waging a war on America’s most abundant and affordable energy resources,” Tipton said. “This administration’s potential regulations are already having a serious impact on rural communities in the third district — including Craig, Hayden, Gunnison and Delta — and will only get worse should this proposed rule be implemented.”

But U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., said that this was a crucial step toward combating climate change and that Colorado already was taking the lead on these issues.

“I support the president’s action to curb dangerous carbon pollution because Colorado is already experiencing the negative effects of a changing climate. The constant threat of wildfire, prolonged drought that imperils our $40 billion agriculture industry and our shortened winters (and ski season) and longer summers all demand action,” he said in a statement. “For years, our state has led the nation by forging common-sense energy solutions that reduce harmful pollution, including our renewable portfolio standard, the Clean Air, Clean Jobs Act, and the recent, industry-supported rules regarding fugitive methane.”

The Clean Jobs Act prompted Hayden Station, a coal-fired power plant, to spend $160 million in upgrades to reduce emissions.

The proposed regulations will undergo a 120-day comment period that will include public hearings across the country, with one in Denver the week of July 28. The regulations will be finalized in June 2015.